Introduction

As every Java application developer knows, in order for your users to use your application, they need a Java Runtime Environment (JRE) on their computer. Traditionally, this was done by providing the user with instructions on how to download and install a JRE (or check if they have he correct JRE), prior to installing your software. In recent years, particularly with the gaining popularity of JavaFX, and because of Mac App Store requirements, the trend has been moving towards bundling a JRE with your application. As a Java developer, I’ve been debating this in my mind, and can see both pros and cons of bundling a JRE.

Pros of bundling a JRE

Bundling a JRE, basically means that your application includes its own JRE, that gets installed, along with your application; typically within the same folder (Windows) or within the app bundle (Mac). The biggest advantage to bundling, is that your users don’t need to worry about installing or managing JREs, and can just use your application. A second advantage is that you can better control which version of the JRE will be used with your application. Additionally, if you want to distribute your Java application on the Mac App Store, it needs to include a bundled JRE.

Cons of bundling a JRE

The biggest con of bundling a JRE, is that users won’t always being most current JRE available, when running your application. Oracle is currently releasing regular updates to Java 8 every 3 months, and so a user that installed your application a year ago, will have an outdated version of Java, and may be missing some important security fixes. The best solution for this is, to release updates your applications, with the latest JRE, every time Oracle makes an update; but this can become a little onerous and time-consuming and there is no guarantee the user will update the application. Another con, is that including a JRE greatly increases the download size of your application; although with current internet speeds this is becoming less of an issue. Finally, bundling a JRE also means the user will have many, possibly redundant, JREs sitting around on their computers. Again, with current hard drive sizes that probably isn’t too much of an issue, but it just doesn’t seem efficient.

Conclusion

I am still sitting on the fence with this, and currently release two version of my apps; one with a bundled JRE and one without. This can also be a pain, and so am considering moving to just bundling in the future. If anyone has any comments, or best practices that they use, I’d love to hear them.

From December 26, to December 31, 2016, PWMinder Desktop is available for 50% off the regular price. PWMinder Desktop is a password manager, that securely stores all of our various passwords. You can find more information in including features and purchase information, on the PWMinder Desktop home page. To purchase an activation code at 50% off, please visit our Store site.

Rail Baron – Game of Building Railroad Empires

From the back of the game box:

You are living in the heyday of the locomotive. You are Jay Gould. And you have just added another railroad to your vast railroad empire. Flushed with success, you now retire to the splendor of your very own Pullman Palace Car. The dream ends. You awaken to reality with the though… “just another fantasy.” but for the grace of Avalon Hill, your dream continues.

If you have ever played the Rail Baron board game, you know that is great game to play with friends and family. The only frustration, is having to use the provided charts and tables, to look up your trip destinations and payoffs. To help make playing the game easier, and more fun, I am developing an iOS app called Rail Baron Tools.

Introduction

I have been using JIRA Software for the past few years for issue tracking, and overall I have been very happy with it. For testing management, in the past, I have used TestLink, but decided it was time I looked into finding something that integrated with JIRA so I could manage all of my testing in one place. A quick search yielded the three main test management add-ons for JIRA are: Zephyr, Xray and SynapseRT and I have looked into all three. Because many comparisons have already been written for Zephyr, I decided that I would focus this post on comparing Xray and SynapseRT.

PWMinder Desktop password manager, is currently on sale for 33% off the regular price. This offer will only last until November 30, 2016, so if you are considering purchasing PWMinder Desktop, act now!

PWMinder Desktop is a password manager for both Windows and Mac, that allows to easily and securely, organize and protect all of you passwords. PWMinder is also available for iOS and Android, so you can access your passwords anywhere.

For more information about PWMinder Desktop, please visit the home page, or to purchase, please visit the purchase page.

PWMinder Desktop Password Manager 3.0.2 has been released, and is now available for download for both Windows and Mac OS X. PWMinder Desktop, is an application for securely storing, managing all of your passwords.

PWMinder Desktop 3.0.2 is a minor release that contains the following changes:

Up until now, at Ewert Technologies, we have been using Kagi, as our E-Commerce service provider. Recently, Kagi announced that it is was going out of business, forcing us to find a new provider.

We are now, pleased to announce, that we have switched to FastSpring, which will provide us and our customers with a great purchasing solution. So, what does this mean for our customers? Thankfully, not a lot: our Store Page will look different, and the check-out process is slightly changed, but our prices, licensing, and activation codes remain the same.

To mark this change, we are, for a limited time, offering a 50% discount on the purchase of PWMinder Desktop activation codes. To claim this discount, you can apply the following coupon code during the checkout process:

I have recently been learning JavaFX 8 by developing a JavaFX application. One of the new concepts in JavaFX is that of properties and binding, whereby, you can link (or bind) the property from one object, to the property of another.

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Welcome to the Ewert Technologies Blog! This blog is a forum for us to post updates about the software being developed at Ewert Technologies, as well as publishing useful articles on coding and technology tips, and other software and technology news.